Questions

I had a dog that did nothing but destroy the house. My rugs were always covered with urine. The dog has a home now and I know I need to rip up the carpets but what I need to know is how to get the odor out of the wood floor beneath the rug. I know it went through.

I want to get new carpets but need to be rid of the odors first. I heard of the Vinegar and I have not tried it yet but if I do does anyone know the mixture I must use? How much water and vinegar? I have also heard of lemon juice as well. Please help and thanks in advance.

Diane from New York

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Most Recent Answer

By Vicki (Guest Post)09/17/2008

Tried bleach, sanding, vinegar, and baking soda with not much help, I could still smell it. Finally, I used kilz premium, then painted, & carpeted. No more odor!

I have a dog and he is peeing on the hardwood floors. How can I get the urine scent out? I had a rug there previously and he peed on that. I had to throw it away and the urine scent has never left. I have tried everything. Please help.

I am having a hard time keeping urine smell out of my home. One of my cats for some reason is peeing on the floor around his liter box instead of in it. I don't know why he started doing this. Is he trying to tell me something? Is he sick, is he mad at me for something? I don't understand. I need to know how I can stop him from doing this and what I can do to get rid of the urine smell on the wood floor and my carpet. Please help!

By Linda D. from Bellmawr, NJ

Most Recent Answer

This behavior is the most common sign of a bladder infection. The cat associates the liter box with pain and begins to avoid it, thinking it can get away from the pain. You need to get your cat to the Vet right away to avoid having this behavior become habitual, and to relieve its' pain.

Most Recent Answer

Hydrogen peroxide will not darken the unfinished wood... it actually lightens stained wood. Soak paper towels with peroxide and set over soiled area. You'll be shocked to see the yellow urine absorbed... gross

I have been searching the internet, and have tried just about everything. Here's a little back story, we bought a fixer upper house, in a small town that we really love. We got a good deal (to be determined), in November, with the plans to be moved in sometime in spring.

This house was lived in by five bachelors, and needless to say, the house was pretty gross, and we still have a lot of work to do. We spent close to a month just scrubbing everything, walls, kitchen, ripping out the shower, and pretty much anything else that was really disgusting. Then we bought some paint and painted the walls. Now we are just waiting on more money to finish replacing things (shower, lights, doors, carpet, etc.).

The carpet was removed before we purchased the house, and it has natural hardwood floors, that are not in good shape. After really looking at them, we determined they are not worth refinishing, as it would cost a lot.

What we have noticed is that even after cleaning everything and painting, there is still this gross dog smell, (the dogs that lived there were gross, I felt bad for them). Through process of elimination, we know it is the wood floor. We have scrubbed them at least 10 times, on hands and knees, with everything we could think of, (each of the following full blast, not on the same day) Pine Sol, orange degreaser cleaning stuff, bleach, vinegar (actually soaked the floor with this, which made it smell like vinegar for a day or two, but then nothing. We even tried baking soda and a couple other things and the smell will not go away.

I talked to Home Depot and they sell a stain blocker that gets painted on the floor, for close to $200 per 5 gallons, (we would need 10 gallons). It seems pretty expensive, and I am wondering what else we could try that would be more cost effective. Does anyone knows if that would really work, or just be a waste of money? Any help is greatly appreciated. I would just look for something a little less expensive to try first. Thanks!

Most Recent Answer

Most pet stores (PetSmart, Petco, etc...) carry urine cleaner. I think it has special enzymes in it to break down the urine to the point the dog doesn't even smell it. I have a puppy that used to have accidents on my hardwood floor and I had trouble getting him to stop because I was cleaning with household cleaners. Has almost completely stopped accidents after using the urine cleaner.

How do I remove dog urine from finished wood floors? I have 2 puppies age 9 weeks and we are trying to paper train them. I have used a mix of white vinegar and water after cleaning up the urine, but the pups continue to pee and poop on the floor, not the paper.

My older, more dominant, dog is often peeing on our area carpet which invariably stains our hardwood floors, leaving a terrible urine smell. Can anyone recommend a "homemade" product that's not so costly or recommend one on the market? I've tried a few items such as "natures miracle" and "simple solution" but neither really takes the smell out. Also, if you know of an inexpensive medicine for my dog for this habit, I would like to know of that too.

Thanks, Connie Bodine in Austin, TX

RE: Dog Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

Just heard this on talk radio the other day... A man called in and said this is what professional "cleaners" use LIQUID DOWNEY FABRIC SOFTENER. He claims the smell will NEVER come back. Good luck. (06/01/2005)

RE: Removing Urine Odor From Wood Flooring

RE: Removing Urine Odor From Wood Flooring

RE: Removing Urine Odor From Wood Flooring

Be careful with both vinegar and ammonia on wood, especially if it is stained to color it. If the pet urine has gone into the grain of the wood, you may have to sand it down, feathering out around the edges of area in question and try to restain and reseal the surface. If it is veneer, you may not even be able to do that. If it is planks or flooring that is in tiles like some parquetries, you might consider replacing the planks or boards affected only. (09/04/2007)

I have hard wood floors, they need to be refinished, but I can't afford it right now. I have dogs that come in the house. They stay outside most of the day and sleep inside at night. They often use the bathroom on the floors and no matter what I use to clean the hardwood floors, I can't get the urine smell out. I have even used bleach water. I need any advice out there.

Thank FF's Wife.Pamela from Louisiana

RE: Dog Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

I had to fumigate an entire basement that had had 5 dogs in it. Vet suggested vinegar. I mixed it half and half with water and applied and let dry, and applied 2 more times and let it dry. The house smelled like a salad for about a week. It finally cleared up and the cement floor had no odor or visible spots.

I think I would try the vinegar in an unseen spot first if I was using it on hardwood floors and see what happens and maybe use white vinegar first (I used brown vinegar on the basement floor). I also found a cleaner at a carpet store and I've forgotten the name of the cleaner but it was pricey. It was diluted with water also. It worked well but was too expensive for the area I had. (04/02/2007)

By Fluffy

RE: Dog Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

Cat urine is even worse than dog urine. My cats urinated on my sofa cushions with a foam core. I took them outside and poured water through and let them dry for several days in the sun. The smell was gone for awhile but eventually came back. A week ago I found some Febreeze pet odor eliminator and figured it was worth a try. So far, so good. If the smell comes back again, I'll spray it again. It was with all the other Febreeze sprays. (04/02/2007)

By rae ann.

RE: Dog Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

I sprayed Febreeze above my floor for cat urine and then sprinkled baking soda and left it for a day or so. The Febreeze masked the immediate odor and the baking soda the rest. It worked and the cat never returned to the area. (04/02/2007)

By Wynn

RE: Dog Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

(Sent in by Email)

This tip works well for cat's urine, so I am sure it should work for dog's. Just use vanilla essence in the water, also place a small amount in a small bowl on the window sill.

RE: Dog Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

After no luck with vinegar or Nature's Miracle, I used Odormute on our patio with excellent results. We have a male and a female Doberman and you can imagine the urine smell before we used this. I followed the instructions explicitly and it works great! Be sure to use gloves as it will irritate skin. Again follow the instruction to the letter.

http://www.odormute.com (01/19/2008)

By Michael

RE: Dog Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

I heard from my step-mother that using vanilla and injecting it into the carpet with a syringe will get rid of cat urine smell. I have dogs and hard wood floors. What works great for me is Mr. Clean with Febreeze. It gets rid of the smell and freshens the whole room. (08/24/2008)

By badboys525

RE: Dog Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

I've used Orange TKO for years - it even penetrates into cement & wood under the carpet. It's inexpensive & I use it to clean everything! The best thing is it's an odor barrier to animals; my animals don't chew, dig, scratch or lay where I spray it. (12/20/2008)

By Rae Leff

RE: Dog Urine Smell on Hardwood Floors

I used hydrogen peroxide for the black urine stains on the hardwood floor and there were many. The peroxide, after several applications, lightened the stains or made them disappear all together. I haven't tried anything for the odor yet. Will let you know. (01/15/2009)